Great Danes Holger Rune, Caroline Wozniacki hit practice courts ahead of Woz return

FLASHBACK: Rune is excited for the chance to play mixed doubles with Wozniacki at the Summer Olympic Games in Paris.

The Caro comeback countdown has officially begun as former world No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki is set to play her first match since retiring from tennis in 2020 at the Omnium Banque Nationale in Montréal.

Who better to help the 2018 Australian Open champion get back into the groove before returning to action than fellow Dane Holger Rune, who took in a hard-court practice with Wozniacki earlier this week.

“Danish duo practice today!” captioned Wozniacki, who announced her intent to mount a comeback at the end of June. “Thank you @holgerrune for a great hit!”

A mother of two, Wozniacki sent shockwaves through the tennis world when she wrote a stirring editorial for Vogue, revealing her decision to rejoin the WTA tour after ostensibly hanging up her racquets for good at the 2020 Australian Open.

“How long will I be able to play at my highest level—a year, two years, three years?” she wrote at the time. “I don’t know. But I know that five years from now, when the kids are in school, it will be too late. I’m not going to make any bold predictions—but if I didn’t believe in myself, I wouldn’t be doing this: I’m too competitive to just show up and not feel like I’m going to be one of the best players out there.”

Wozniacki had remained a part of the tennis world despite growing her family with husband David Lee, working in the Tennis Channel commentary booth and playing Legends Doubles at Roland Garros this spring.

For Rune, who idolized Wozniacki as a youngster, the latter was his first clue that she might be making a comeback.

“She looked in very, very good shape,” he told the Tennis Channel Live Desk during Wimbledon. “I don’t know, I was thinking and I actually told my mom, ‘Is she just in that good shape or is she thinking of something?’”

In addition to playing the major tournaments, Wozniacki has set her sights on a 2024 Olympic berth, teasing a potential mixed doubles pairing with Rune. Might the Danes nab their first medals in Paris?